Axisymmetric Lower-Bound Limit Analysis Using Finite Elements and Second-Order Cone Programming

Abstract

In this paper, the formulation of a lower-bound limit analysis for axisymmetric problems by means of finite elements leads to an optimization problem with a large number of variables and constraints. For the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, it is shown that these axisymmetric problems can be solved by second-order cone programming (SOCP). First, a brief introduction to SOCP is given and how axisymmetric lower-bound limit analysis can be formulated in this way is described. Through the use of an efficient toolbox (